Job seekers, landowners check out Emera project

Gerald Young of Flat Bay said it would be awesome if he could get a job with the Emera Maritime Link project, which gets underway soon.Young and his wife, Ann Marie, were among a number of people who came out to a public information session Tuesday afternoon that Emera Newfoundland and Labrador held at the fire hall in Stephenville Crossing.

Rebekah Cluett-Chan of Emera (left) and Janice Brennan, a landowner in Stephenville Crossing, check out the location of a transmission line that will run near the community. — Photo by Frank Gale/The Western Star

In just the first hour of the session, which ran for four hours, more than 30 people dropped by for various reasons.

Young formerly worked cutting wood for the Abitibi-Consolidated mill in Stephenville before it closed, and has since been going away to New Brunswick and Nova Scotia every winter doing the same job.

“It would be great to get a job here in Newfoundland and close to home,” he said.

Gerry Brennan, project manager for Emera, said the company is hoping to start tree clearing for the project next month. That will start at Bottom Brook and work its way about halfway to Cape Ray throughout the winter.

Fred Marche of Port au Port, a heavy equipment operator, is another resident who dropped by the session and said he’s looking for work too.

The former yard worker at Abitibi-Consolidated said he gets bored, so he would like to hook a job on this project.

“If I did get a job, I’d be there until it’s finished,” he said. “I would like to work close to home.”

Janice Brennan of Stephenville Crossing dropped by the session out of concern as a landowner as to whether a transmission line being run to a planned grounding station in Rothesay Bay will pass close to her property.

She’s concerned about whether it will affect the value of her property.

“I came to get a better understanding of the project, and while I recognize there are economic benefits ... you have to be concerned about the pros and cons of any type of development,” she said.

Emera will construct and own a $1.2-billion underwater power connection from Newfoundland to Nova Scotia, to be known as the Maritime Transmission Link. This will enable future electricity exports to the Maritimes and the United States.

Rebekah Cluett-Chan of Emera (left) and Janice Brennan, a landowner in Stephenville Crossing, check out the location of a transmission line that will run near the community. — Photo by Frank Gale/The Western Star